Help a Lakota elder with housing

My dad is a Lakota elder, fluent in our language and a culture and knowledge keeper. He has helped countless people in his career as a counselor, public health advocate, and tribal judge. He has also served our people by practicing and teaching our traditional ceremonies and lifeways. 

 

My dad contracted COVID-19 in September 2020. He miraculously survived despite being extraordinarily ill, but now suffers from irreversible lung damage. He and my mom have also been struggling with long COVID. This has been made worse by living in a home with no heat (the furnace has been broken for two winters), faulty electricity, and a floor that’s caving in. Their trailer’s roof is held down by cinder blocks and tires and leaks whenever it rains. This has caused black mold that my mom constantly battles to keep at bay.

 

My elderly parents have survived the last two falls and winters with space heaters. This keeps the interior temp in the 60s during most winter days, but when it’s below zero, they are freezing. I worry that they will freeze to death. I worry the roof will cave in while they’re sleeping. I worry the space heaters will overburden the electrical system and cause a fire.